16 HORSEPOWER
Folklore (Jetset)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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David Eugene Edwards brings back his original Horsepowered mates and gets back to square one. The haunting southern Americana gothic that graces each and every record gets the sparse arrangement treatment. Every banjo pluck, every fiddle, and every crackling syllable is clearly audible, and though 16 Horsepower can crank it up, and do it well, the magic comes through best when stripped to the bone. Folklore is such a record. Edwards is in fine, desperate form, weaving ghostly images and thrilling arrangements. A seemingly odd inclusion, "Sinnerman" is stripped of Nina Simone's anguished vocal steamroller and turned into a foreboding preach, Edwards playing the brutal lash of the Bible belt oh so well. It fits in perfectly.

© 2002 - John Sekerka